Real Estate Senior Paralegal

Andrea Ward

Email: *********@*****.***

Linkedin.com/in/andreaward3

Cell: 478-***-****

Professional Summary

Experienced Senior Legal/Finance/ Real Estate professional with a demonstrated history of Skilled Negotiation, Commercial Real Estate, Contracts, Corporate Governance, Securities, Legal Writing, and Licensing. Strong legal professional with a growth mind set, driven to exceed client expectations and offer solutions to process improvements and facilitation of working across diverse corporate groups

Work Experience

MILLENNIAL TITLE, LLC – Santa Rosa Beach, FL 7/2022-3/2023

VP Agency Manager and Commercial Underwriter

Millennial Title Company which is a regional title company that is licensed in 23 states and handles both residential as well as commercial transactions. Millennial Title recently launched Encrypted Estates to focus on leveraging BlockChain technology and Cryptocurrency to execute Real Estate transactions. I just opened a new Millennial Title Office in Santa Rosa Beach/The Emerald Coast in July 2022 and building a success, thriving business. On 12/9/22 we closed our single largest commercial transaction with Denton Floyd in the amount of $79 Million. Building relationships within my community is key for me and striking alliances with the commercial and residential arenas is paramount to the continued success of Millennial Title. I am personally involved in all commercial transactions from underwriting through closing and lead our commercial team, as it was started when I was brought on board.

MCNEESE TITLE, LLC – Santa Rosa Beach, FL 6/2021- 6/2022

VP Closer & Escrow Officer

Handled face closings, drafted loan documentation, review all title commitments, solve all title issues, disbursement of all files post closing, recordation of all legal documentation, handled all tax issues, issue title policies, drafting and maintenance of post closing escrow agreements; handled all files post closing from disbursement through necessary filing of satisfactions; interacted with all clients/realtors/ brokers/attorneys to facilitate client satisfaction. Facilitated all 1031 transactions, balanced books for monthly/quarterly/annual review and audits

SANDLER NONWOVEN CORPORATION – Perry, GA 8/2020-12/2020

Vice President of Legal Affairs (COVID 19 RIWF)

Managed all legal, vendor and corporate housing contracts; negotiated all contracts; handled all legal corporate responsibilities; negotiated international employment contracts; handled all expat relocation arrangements; responsible for CEO’s personal and business calendar; arranged/managed and did all marketing for corporate events; handled all HR new hiring training and drafting and revisions to employee handbook and policies; worked with QA on training manuals, career succession planning; handled all executive contracts and fleet of corporate cars (contracts with expats – drafted of corporate car addendum for German employment contracts. Drafted apartment addendum for German expat employment contract as well. Handled all accounting - payable/receivable, payroll, forensic auditing, process improvement for operations, HR, accounting and legal processes.

EXIDE TECHNOLOGIES – Alpharetta, GA 2/2020-6/2020

Consultant - Managing Director of Commercial Real Estate (COVID 19 RIWF)

With Exide Corporation to review, evaluate and make recommendations on entire commercial real estate portfolio to include buy out of commercial leases, locations to close, project to identify all owned real estate domestic and international, making recommendations for capital injections and how real property holdings can help enable that, evaluation of existing loan portfolio and encumbered properties. Additional substantive work in EPA remediation plans on 20+ properties with general counsel and sell off of non-producing properties.

PRUITT HEALTH – Atlanta, GA 5/2019-1/2020

Senior Commercial Real Estate & Corporate Paralegal (COVID19 RIWF)

Managed all commercial real estate transactions- title/survey/all due diligence/drafting all documents, Collaborated with SVP of Supply Chain on new contract management database for ease of contract management, Worked directly with Chief Investment Officer on all corporate financing transactions, Handled all corporate filings for over 230 entities, Responsible for all Pruitt family Trust work, Special projects for the CEO, Worked with Planning and Development on extensive capital expenditure projects and long term growth initiatives for company.

WORK WITH VARIOUS NON-PROFIT GROUPS & JOB SEARCH Warner Robins, GA 8/2017 - 5/2019

BRANCH BANKING & TRUST COMPANY - Greensboro, NC 5/2011 - 7/2017

BB&T experience includes Corporate Legal, Loan Services, Mortgage, Wealth Lending Services, Compliance, BB&T University (LAY OFF- Corporate Reduction in Workforce companywide)

SVP, Legal & Credit Risk Finance Manager- Mortgage Division 5/2016 - 7/2017

Managed underwriting and loan operation audits; performed all corporate legal reviews of transactions and documentation for Mortgage Division; worked with clients’ closing agents to facilitate proper documentation and compliance; analyzed and assessed risk levels for Bank compliance with both federal and internal underwriting requirements; worked with Legal on all opinion letters, complex legal issues and training for the sales/ underwriting/ processing and operational staff with regard to legal requirements for corporate entities; worked on all Wealth client mortgage loans ($1-100 Million) to ensure compliance with Mortgage Division and risk requirements for the bank

Reduced turn time for legal review documentation by 48% with creation of new process and database for submission of legal review

Created curriculum and trained East Coast region on legal matters and identification of risk for underwriting purposes

Implemented new processes as part of a cross functional team

VP, Senior Legal Liaison - Wealth Lending 8/2012 - 5/2016

Loan Production numbers increased more than 418% from 2011-2017

Wealth Loan Portfolio increased by 400% and the number of Wealth clients increased by more than 288%

Wealth Lending Center loan production exceeded goals by 10% in 2012 and by 28% in 2016 to over $2.5 billion

Leadership Team, United Way Women

Managed implementation of Retail Fulfillment Division and ongoing employee training systems; created new hire packets for HR specific to the Lending division; performed underwriting and risk grading functions for Wealth clients and communicated to senior leadership; reviewed legal documentation and worked with in-house and outside counsel on large Wealth loans for legal, risk and compliance documentation/analysis; drafted templates for attorney opinion letters and worked with opposing counsel to ensure Bank requirements were met

Developed division from 2 direct reports to 250+ Loan Specialists with multiple layers of management

Created loan operations training curriculum for management, Lenders, Wealth Advisors, and Loan Specialists

Worked with Legal to create compliance measures and underwriting documentation for corporate lending

Worked with Legal to establish policies for risk underwriting and evaluation of clients’ credit rating and total credit exposure with bank

Implemented new policies, procedures, and financial goals for Wealth advisors; assisted in creating the Wealth Insite Page for Wealth Lending

Underwriter for corporate entities for both Wealth and Mortgage Lending divisions

Site Manager/Facilitator - Wealth Lending 5/2011 - 8/2012

Selected for Executive Mentor Program and paired with an executive for 2 years

Completed Leadership I, II, and III in my first year with the bank

Leadership 360

Worked with Wealth Strategy on new Wealth product offerings, performed testing, monitored results; collaborated with Senior Management and other Risk officers on large Wealth deals; monitored Loan Fulfillment work for quality control and opportunities for improvement

Managed largest clients’ portfolios for several lines of credit exceeding $450 million

Created new database to house and support centralized loan underwriting and fulfillment

Created and implemented Retail Loan Fulfillment Division for Wealth, Private, Small Business

Drafted processes and policies for Loan Services, new divisions, and employee training

Built out legal review process for the Retail Fulfillment Division, assisted with building out internal Compliance and Process Management for strategizing with colleagues and executive management

ONE SOURCE TRANSACTIONAL & CORPORATE SOLUTIONS, LLC - Atlanta, GA 10/2001 - 5/2011

Owner/Operator

Clients included: Home Depot, Lowes, Coca-Cola, Merrill Lynch, Fidelity Title, Chicago Title, Stewart Title, First American Title, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, BB&T Bryan Cave, Greenberg Traurig, Cushing Morris, Morris Manning, UPS Capital, Jones Cork & Miller, Fickling & Co, other law firms; served Fortune 500 and 100 companies

Services included: corporate and SEC filings, extensive Due Diligence, retail lease review/abstraction, management of large multi-site/ multi-state transactions, title abstraction; title underwriting; draft closing documents; survey order/review; environmental report order/review; lease negotiation/drafting/abstraction; rent roll review; CAM review & reconciliation; zoning issues; permitting matters; obtain authority documents; Secretary of State filings; notice letter – landlord/ tenant; landlord portfolio management; lender underwriting requirements; facilitate 1031 transactions

GLOBAL FRANCHISE GROUP

(f/k/a Nexcen Franchise Management) - Norcross, GA 3/2007 - 6/2008

Senior Legal Manager/SVP of Global Franchise Development

Created databases to manage work flow, corporate governance recordings, drafted all franchise documents, negotiated all commercial leases; reported to General Counsel and Executive Board; handled all SEC filings, worked with CEO on plan to answer formal SEC complaint regarding recognition of income and reporting for earnings

Created database of templates, which increased efficiency in processing of new franchise documentation by 65%

DIXIE HOMECRAFTERS, INC. / GUTTER GUARD, LLC - Atlanta, GA 1/2004 - 8/2005

National home improvement company with 16,000+ employees

Director of Human Resources

Created new HR Department and formulated a 12-month plan to move the company’s infrastructure upward to support growth; reported to CEO and managed Executive Board (moved to consulting role with company)

Legal Department Manager & Senior Paralegal

Created and managed in-house Legal, Human Resources, and outside counsel repository; facilitated M&A for company in October 2004 and handled all commercial real estate transactions; IP and trademark work; investigated and handled all EEOC claims; created Legal Policies & Procedures Manual; corporate governance; direct legal contact for all mid & upper level management in 19 offices; dealt with two class action law suits (FLSA) brought against the company; promoted to Director of Human Resources

FIDELITY INSURANCE COMPANY

(f/k/a LandAmerica Financial Group) - Atlanta, GA 3/1998 - 10/2002

National Commercial Title Underwriter

Managed portfolio of 10 large financial and retail clients including real estate transactions, title, escrow and due diligence issues; managed large, complex, multi-site, and multi-state transaction types including Class A,B,C office, big-box retail, Simon Malls, construction and asset based lending, REITs, timber, coal mines, railroads, restaurant/ restaurant franchising, grocery/ drug anchored shopping centers, multi-use urban development projects; co-managed a 2,000+ cell tower site transaction, to include all lease abstractions and due diligence

IRT PROPERTY COMPANY - Atlanta, GA 1996 - 1998

Director of REIT Acquisitions/Dispositions/Commercial Leasing

Specialized in grocery/ pharmacy anchor shopping centers; managed commercial acquisitions, leasing, legal documentation and negotiation of company contracts

Reduced redundancy in training of local tenant management by 88%

Lowered bankruptcy losses from tenants by 32% by negotiating rents and leases

Education

REGIS UNIVERSITY - Denver, CO Master of Business Administration

VALDOSTA STATE UNIVERSITY - Valdosta, GA Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies (ABA approved)

GEORGE F. MERCER SCHOOL OF LAW - Macon, GA 2 years (did not complete due to a family health crisis)

Associations

GAP - Georgia Association of Paralegals (Director of Community Service Contributions, Chair of Steering Committee for licensure of paralegal profession in state of GA) 1997 - 2010 & 2019-20

North Carolina Association of Paralegals 2015 – 2020

NFPA - National Federation of Paralegals Association 2001 – 2018

Winston Salem Battered Women’s Shelter 2011 - 2017

Second Harvest Food Bank 2011 – 2017

St. Andrews Presbyterian School 2019-2020

Licenses

Nationally Certified Paralegal

Certified Paralegal, NC Notary Public, GA

Notary Public, FL

Florida Title Agent (taking test in May 2023)

Additional Skills and Experience

Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Visio, SharePoint, Workday, SAP, Lan-Tech, Counsel Link billing

Multiple finance software applications – Laser Pro, Abacus, BankFlex, Banq, Core Bank, Unity Loan System, Encompass

Human Resources: benefits, FSLA, FMLA, EEOC, OSHA, ERISA, retention, training

Mergers & Acquisitions

Logistics Management

Finance Management

Credit Risk Analysis and Underwriting

Real Estate and Title Underwriting

Risk Management

Contract Negotiation and Management, Contract Administration

Project Management and Development

Business Development

Process Development, Process Improvement

Compliance & Audit

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